Search for crowds might mean a mid-December future for the Gabba © Getty Images Australia’s cricketers should be prepared to say goodbye to the Gabba as their traditional starting point to summer outside of Ashes series – if the words of the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland are anything to go by. While admitting the team sees the Gabba as a “real stronghold”, Sutherland has hinted strongly that the…
Adelaide to host maiden Ashes day-night Test
Lights take over at the Adelaide Oval © Getty Images The first ever day-nght Ashes Test will be staged at Adelaide Oval next year, following the announcement of the 2017-18 Ashes schedule. However, the Waca ground in Perth could be set to miss out of hosting the third Test, in favour of the new purpose-built Perth Stadium, subject to ongoing discussions with the Western Australia government. The series will begin,…
De Villiers abandons the job that never was
AB de Villiers’ Test ambitions were thwarted by injury © AFP No-one wanted to be South Africa’s Test captain more than AB de Villiers. He said so himself,here , more than two years ago when he was overlooked in favour of Hashim Amla as South Africa sought a new leader after a decade of Graeme Smith. Moving on was never going to be easy. Smith was an overarching presence, broad…
De Villiers steps down as Test captain
AB de Villiers has endorsed Faf du Plessis, his stand-in, to take over the Test captaincy on a permanent basis © Getty Images AB de Villiers has stepped down as South Africa’s Test captain with immediate effect and has been ruled out of the three Tests against Sri Lanka as he continues to recover from elbow surgery. De Villiers endorsed his stand-in, Faf du Plessis, to take over permanently. “The…
Injuries not because of my bowling – Mathews
Angelo Mathews has not played competitive cricket since August © AFP Angelo Mathews, who is returning from multiple injuries, hoped to “bowl quite a lot” and support Sri Lanka’s frontline quicks in the three Tests against South Africa starting from December 26 in Port Elizabeth. “I am 100 percent confident of my fitness,” Mathews said. “I am hoping to bowl quite a lot in South Africa. If I can bowl…
Anderson-Ashwin confrontation 'disappointing' – Cook
Play 01:28 Cook and Kohli on the Ashwin-Anderson chatter A confrontation between James Anderson and R Ashwin provided a “sour end” to the fourth Test in Mumbai, according to Alastair Cook. Anderson, England’s last batsman, received quite the welcome party when he walked out to bat in the dying moments of the match. Ashwin, in particular, appeared to have taken exception to his comments on the fourth evening that seemed,…
Shouldn't 'overkill' day-night Tests – Lyon
‘I’m a big believer in trying to keep Test match cricket as traditional as possible with the odd pink ball game’ – Nathan Lyon © Cricket Australia/Getty Images Nathan Lyon has urged cricket to avoid “overkill” in its scheduling of day-night Tests, as Australia prepare for their second of back-to-back pink-ball Tests this summer. The Australia-Pakistan game at the Gabba will be the fourth day-night Test ever played – the…
Personal milestones 'out of our system' – Kohli
Play 02:40 ‘We haven’t got anything on a platter’ – Kohli Virat Kohli has rated India’s players eliminating their hunger for personal milestones in favour of the team’s cause as a major highlight of his tenure as Test captain. India sealed the series against England 3-0 in Mumbai with one match still left, and despite what the scoreline suggests they have had to work very hard. They lost three tosses…
Root 'ready to captain' but Cook won't make hasty decision
Play 01:59 ‘India made us pay for dropped chances’ – Cook Joe Root is “ready to captain England” according to Alastair Cook. While Cook maintained that his views on continuing as captain “have not changed” – he has long said that he will continue on a series by series basis and make a firm decision only after consulting the managing director of the England team, Andrew Strauss – he did…
Lyon hopes to extract more bounce from the Gabba
Nathan Lyon seems to enjoy bowling at the Gabba: he has 24 wickets at 23.95 © Getty Images Statistics can tell a story, but which story depends on which statistics. For example, how should Nathan Lyon expect to go against Pakistan at the Gabba this week? Badly, if you look at his Test record against Pakistan: three wickets at 140.66. Brilliantly, if you consider his Test record at the Gabba:…